Refrigerator cabinet



Oct. 16, 1.945. .0. E. DAILEY 2,336,935

I REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Dec. 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 0ct.1s,1945. f D, E. D L Y v 2,386,935

REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Dec. 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' Patented Oct. 16, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

REFRIGERATOR CABINET Donald E. Bailey, Germantown, Pa., assignor to Philco Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 4, 1942, Serial No. 467,895

6 Claims. (01. 220-9).

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in refrigerator cabinet structures,

and is concerned particularly with a novel and advantageous construction for the refrigerator outer shell.

In sheet metal refrigerator cabinets asmade heretofore, it has been the practice to employ a separate or independent sheet of material for the floor of the food storage space defined-by the outer cabinet shell. This has required the use of additional rails or bars which must be secured in the shell to support such floor sheet. Too, the

number of independent structural members and pieces that must be handled, and the number of operations required to be performed, in assembling such cabinets are considerable, with the result that the time and cost expended in the manufacture of the cabinets is substantially greater than need be. Moreover, in cabinet outer shells of-the now widely used one-piece inverted U- shape, there has been encountered an appreciable amount of outward bulging of the side wall portions. This bulging can be corrected only by welding or otherwise securing the shell walls to the adjacent edges of the separate floor sheet, with the result that unsightly marks appear on the exterior surface of the cabinet side wall portions.

By the present invention the foregoing difliculties and objections encountered in the manufacture of refrigerator cabinets are eliminated usually employed in such cabinets is greatly facilitated.

A still further object of the presentinvention is to provide a refrigerator cabinet shell of the type described which may be shipped in separable sections, when desired, thereby facilitating packing and protection of the component parts.

These and other objects of the invention and the various features and advantages of the construction and arrangement thereof are herein after set forth and. described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a view in perspective of a refrigerator cabinet shell constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, illustrating the upper and lower cabinet shell sections before assembling the same together;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in sectional perspective of the assembled cabinet, with the inner, shell or liner in place, portions being broken away to illustrate the positioning and retention of the insulation;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line d-t, Figure 1; and v Figure 5 is a view in perspective showing a modified form of the invention.

which is formed of separately fabricated upper and lower sections wherein the storage space floor is formed integrally with the upper section and wherein the lower section carries out the styling and contours of said upper section, while at the ,same time serving to conceal and retain the forward edge of the floor covering portion of the insulation.

Another object of the invention'resides in the provision of a cabinet outer shell construction of the type set forth which lends itself readily to the production of a cabinet outer shell having perfectly plane side walls.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved construction for the-outer shell of a. refrigerator cabinet wherein nounting and retention of the heat insulating material Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in Figures 1 and 2 there is illustrated a refrigerator cabinet outer shell comprising independent upper and lower sections 3 and 8, re-

spectively, which are adapted to be fitted and secured together, for example, by bolts, welding or the like, to form a rigid unitary shell. Figure 1 shows the cabinet outer shell after assembly, while Figure 2 shows the two sections 3 and 4 prior to assembly.

The upper section 3 defines, generally a food storage compartment 5, and is formed of a single sheet of metal, or other suitable material, bent to the usual inverted U-shape, and provided with front and rear peripheral edge flanges 6 and 1,'

respectively, which extend inwardly substantially at right angles to the plane of the sheet material. A rear wall or closure 8 (see Figure 3) is attached to the face of the rear flange I, in,- wardly thereof, in any suitable manner.

The flanges 8 and 1 preferably are formed before the sheet is bent to inverted U-shape, and it will be observed that the front flange 6. terminates along its inner free edge in a peripheral,

edge portion 9, which is bent back from the plane of said flange 6, and extends rearwardly toward the food space diverging somewhat from parallelism with the shell walls. The purpose of this edge portion 9 will appear hereinafter.

As best illustrated in Figure 2, the upper cabinet shell section 3 includes an integral floor structure III. Preferably this floor III is formed by the lower end portions H and H of the sides of the U-shaped shell which are bent inwardly and upwardly into a horizontal position normal or perpendicular to the plane of the U-shaped shell. The free edges of the floor portions H and I2 meet centrally at the bottom of the section 3 and are secured together by welding or the like, as indicated at l3, to complete the floor.

It is pointed out that the invention also contemplates forming the floor structure of the upper cabinet section'3 by providing a single end portion of sufficient length at one side only of the shell section 3 and bending it, in the same manner, into a horizontal position with its free edge meeting the lower edge of the opposite side wall of said shell section. Such a construction is illustrated in Figure 5, wherein the single end portion I4 is formed integral with the material of one side wall of the shell, and is of a length equal to the distance between the vertical side walls of the shell. The free edge l5 of this floor portion I4 'meets. and is secured to the lower edge i6 of the adjacent vertical wall in any convenient manner as by welding or the like.

Considering now the lower section t of the cabinet shell, this likewise comprises a single piece of sheet material which is configured and shaped to cooperate with the upper section 3 so as to continue the contour thereof throughoutthe height of the entire shell. In general, this lower section 4 comprises a forwardly curved portion l'l, rearwardly extending side walls :8, i8 and suitably shaped flange portions. These flanges will now be described.

Extending at right angles to the section side walls I8, and inwardly thereof,- are horizontal flange portions l9, llwhich provide a firm base or.

support for-the upper shell section 3. Thus, when the sections are assembled, as shown in Figure 1, these flanges l9, I9 underlie the floor portions ii and i2 of upper section 3'and said portions I I and 12 are secured to said flanges i9, H by welding or the like. The resulting joint or seam in the cabinet side walls between the upper and lower cabinet sections 3 and 4 may be concealed located so as to lie in the plane of the flange portions 8 of the upper section 3 when the upper and lower sections are assembled. This wall portion 22 is provided with notches 23, 23 at opposite sides thereof arranged so as to interfit with the lower ends, respectively, of said front peripheral flanges 8. Wall 22 in turn is provided atits upper edge with'a rearwardly extending flange portion 24, having suitably curved end portions 25, 25 of a shape and size to interflt and cooperate with the diverging edge flanges 9 of the upper shell section 2 previously described.

To assemble the cabinet sections as shown in Figure 1, the lower section 4 preferably is displaced somewhat forwardly of and beneath the upper section 2 so that the flange 24 of the lower asaaoss section 3 may clear the forward edge of the upper section floor id as the upper section 3 is lowered onto the lower section 4. Following this, the upper section may be moved horizontally forward until the front flanges 6 thereof lie in coplanar relation with the front wall portion 22 of the lower section, and the edge flanges 9 and 24 of the upper and lower sections, respectively, meet with their end edges in alignment or registering with one another. After assembly, and the securing of flanges I9 to the lower surfaces of floor portions II and I 2 as previously set forth, the end edges of the wall 22a and flange 24 are similarly secured to the adjacent end edge portions of the flanges 6 and 9, respectively, as will be clear from Figure 1. 4

The cabinet shell structure herein illustrated and described provides coplanar marginal edge portions .(6 and 22) which extend entirely around the front opening to the interior space 5 and against whichthe refrigerator door may be seated and sealed. Additionally, the construction provides a continuous rearwardly extending flange (9 -and 24) which serves to retain and conceal the insulation and to support the usual inner shell or liner.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings this insulation, which preferably takes the form of separate batts 28 of mineral wool or the like,-is provided with suitably tapered or beveled forward edges 21 shaped to flt snugly within and behind the flanges 6, 9 and 22, 24 at the front of the cabinet. The inner shell or liner 28 is then inserted within the space defined by th insulating batts 26, and is largely supported thereby. According to known practice, the liner 28 may be provided with a forward flange 29 which lies in the plane of the'outer shell flanges 9 and 24 but is spaced therefrom; the space between the 00-. planar flanges 6, 24 and 29 being bridged by a breakerstrip 30 of material of low heat conduc- I tivity which is fastened to the flanging by any convenient means;

when assembling the cabinet structure, the insulation should first be placed in the upper shell section 3, with the forward edges of the top and side batts concealed and retained by the flanging provided on said section, as already described,

The lower batt is supported by the floor structure I0, and the liner 28, which isof a size to fit snugly within the space defined by the blocks of insulation in the upper section, is then inserted. Following this, the upper and lower sections are assembled and secured together in the manner described, and when thus assembled the flanges 22, 24 serve to retain and conceal the forward tapered edge 21 of the floor batt 26. Mounting of the breakerstrip 30 completes the cabinet assembly.

In addition to the advantages resulting from the provision of a shell composed of separate upper and lower sections, it will be evident from the foregoing that the construction of the present invention affords numerous other advantages.

Thus, by forming the insulation-supporting floor of the upper section in either of the two ways set forth above, a rigid box-like structure is provided in which the top, side and bottom walls are formed of a single integral sheet, with the result that serious difficulties, inherent in the older structures, are avoided. For example, it is not necessary to use the horizontal flanges or rails which were needed to support the separate floor members in use heretofore. Further, the number of pieces handled, and the operaaasaess j tions performed, during assembly are considerably reduced; Moreover, when the shells are bent to inverted U-shape, appreciable outward bulging of the side walls is produced, and this.

could only be corrected in the past by spot welding or otherwise securing the walls to the adjacent edges of the flooring, thereby creating unsightly marks on the exterior surface of said floor integral with the shell side walls, any bulging is corrected as soon as the adjacent floor edges have been secured together as described.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is evident that the invention is susceptible of certain modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and that such chan es are contemplated as may fall within the scope of the claims.

I claim: y

1. A sectional refrigerator cabinet outer shell comprising a lower shell section having front and side wall portions, said front wall portion -walls. By the present invention, providing a section along opposite sides thereof and the front wall portion having its upper edge portion bent to provide a flange portion, and an upper shell section composed of a single piece of sheet material having integral top, side wall and floor portions defining therewlthin a food storage compartment space, said upper shell section floor portion being seated upon and secured to the in-' wardly extending side edge flanges of said lower I shell section, and the front edge portion of the top and side walls of the upper shell section being turned inwardly and providing a flange portion extending about said upper shell section at the front thereof, the outer portions of the said flanges at the front of the upper shell section and of the lower shell section being disposed in coplanar relation substantially normal to the side wall surface of the cabnet shell, and coophaving its upper edge portion extended to provide an upwardly projecting flange portion, and an upper shell section composed of a single piece of sheet material having integral top, side walland floor portions deflning therewithin a food storage compartment space, said upper shell section floor portion being supported by said lower shell section, and the frontedge portion of the top and side walls of the upper shell section being turned inwardly to provide a flange portion, the flange portion of the front wall of the lower shell section lying in the same plane as the flange portion of the upper section and forming in effect a continuation of the latter at the front edge of said floor portion.

2. A sectional refrigerator cabinet outer shell comprising a lower shell section having front and side wall portions, said side wall portions erating to afford an uninterrupted flange at the wardly extending flange portion, the said offset wall portion being cut away atopposite ends thereof so as to terminate inwardly of the side having their upper edges turned inwardly and providing flanges extending inwardly of the shell section along opposite sides thereof, and the front wall portion having its upper edge extended to provide an upwardly projecting flange portion. and an upper shell section composed of a single piece of sheet material having integral top, side wall and floor portions defining therewithin a food storage compartment space, said upper shell 7 section floor portion being seated upon and secured to the inwardly extending side edge flanges of said lower shell sectlon. and the front edge portion of the top and side walls of the upper shell section being turned inwardly and providwalls of the shell section, and said inwardly extending front flange having its opposite end portions upwardly curved.

5. In a sectional refrigerator cabinet outer shell construction, a lower shell section composed of a single piece of sheet material having integral front and side wall portions, said side walls having their upper edge portions turned inwardly and providing flanges extending inwardly of the shell along opposite edges thereof, and said front wall having the upper edge portion thereof turned inwardly and providing a rearwardly oflset wall portion terminating at its upper edge in an ining a flange portion extending about said upper shell section at the front thereof, said flange at the front of the upper shell section and the upwardly projecting flange of the. lower shell section each having an outer portion disposed in coplanar relation substantially normal to the side wall surface of the cabinet shell and an inner portion divergingdnwardly of the cabinet shell anguiarly with respect to said outer portion,

and' said flanges being interfltted at their ends and extending continuously about the forward edge of said storage compartment space. 3. A sectional refrigerator cabinet outer shell comprising a lower shell section having front and side wall portions, said side wall'portions hav .ingtheirupperedgesturnedinwardlyandprovidingflangesextending inwardlyofthoshell wardly extending flange portion, the said oflset wall portion being cut away at opposite ends thereof so as to terminate inwardly of the side walls of the shell section, and said inwardly extending front flange having its opposite end portions upwardly curved.

6. In an outer shell structure for refrigerator cabinets, an upper section having side walls and a bottom wall joining the lower edges of the side wallsat right angles, said side walls having flanges at their forward edges with outer portions extending inwardly at right angles to said walls and inner portions extending toward the rear of said section and terminating short of the bottom wall thereof,-a separately formed lower section supporting the upper section and having an extension at the front fitted between the lower ends of the said flanges of the upper section, said extension having portions corresponding to the said outer and inner portions of the flanges and forming a continuation of said flanges along the forward edge ofthe said bottom wall, the ends of the said inner portion of the extension being curved so as to provide rounded corners opposite the .Junctures of the said side and bottom walls of the upper section. a

DONAL'DI.DM.- 

